The BRIDGE program is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary plan by faculty and administrators at Howard University, Purdue University, University of Illinois College of Medicine (UICM) and the Leadership Alliance to forge academic partnerships with 3 Alliance members (Morgan State, Delaware State, Hampton University) that offer terminal M.S. degrees in the biomedical sciences under a program entitled Biomedical Sciences Professors for the Future Program (BPFP). The Ph.D.-intensive campuses of the BPFP will provide the doctoral training menu from which students in M.S. terminal programs can chose. Joint M.S. and Ph.D. faculty will serve on the students committees, and provide resources and training for completion of the M.S. degree. Trainees will have the opportunity to conduct transitional research in the BPFP-mentor's lab, other industrial and governmental labs, course work at the MBL and Cold Spring Harbor prior to full-time admission into the doctoral program. Ph.D. trainees will be tracked throughout their doctoral program, provided opportunities to rotate through other BPFP university programs, and conduct research in leading European and Asian research laboratories through the MIRT program. The linked M.S. universities will benefit through joint programs with research- intensive universities, collaboration and close interaction of the faculty through exchanges, sabbaticals, short courses, workshops and seminars presented at M.S.-universities.